Persons performing low-impact, repetitive tasks such as word processing sometimes report pain and/or discomfort in the hands, arms, and neck. Doctors now diagnose such debilitating pain and discomfort as carpal tunnel syndrome or other cumulative trauma disorder (CTD) or repetitive stress injury (RSI). Ergonomic disorders, such as the aforementioned, have spawned a multi-billion dollar industry intending to maximize worker productivity by providing comfortable workstations, chairs, and computer hardware, thereby minimizing fatigue and discomfort.
Despite the advances of ergonomics for the office environment, in a laboratory setting, such as a medical laboratory, laboratory technicians are still subjected to repetitive operations with sub-optimal ergonomic devices such as pipette devices. Pipetting is the act of aspirating and dispensing controlled volumes of liquid, and is one of the most frequently performed repetitive lab operations. Attempts to minimize the occurrences of RSIs in the lab have focused on training technicians in body mechanics (e.g., posture, pipetting technique, etc.), and providing a ergonomic pipette device.
The design of a pipette device is as important as the manner in which it is used. Pipette manufacturers recognize the benefits of an ergonomic pipette device, as is evidenced by the number of different ergonomic devices available. For example, many devices include a contoured handgrip to allow for a relaxed hold on the device. However, a contoured handgrip is not sufficient to completely obviate the development of a RSI or CTD in awkward, confined or restricted spaces, such as pipetting at lowered benchtops or in fume hoods where arm, joint or tendon strain may occur. Healthy technicians will not only have better attendance and attitude, but will also perform better with improved pipetting accuracy and precision. Therefore, in view of the foregoing, a need exists for an adjustable ergonomic pipette device.